My parents came over to visit us from Hatteras, NC this week. We decided to fish a few days while they were in town as well as some sigthseeing around Madeira. We fished this afternoon to try and get my dad a nice blue or maybe a tuna for the grill. There have been some bigeye tunas around and a number of blues caught in the last few days. I talked to a few other boats who had seen the tunas busting on bait in and around the area so hopes were up for a tuna strike. We switched the two long lures out for some tuna jets to give ourselves a better chance of catching either, or. Come 5 pm the area became pretty clouded over and the birds were acting as if something good was getting ready to happen and it did just that. Jess spotted the tunas busting about a mile away so off we went. All the other boats had left the area so we had it all to ourselves.
I chased the birds and busting tunas for nearly an hour when we finally got a tuna bite on the Polu Kai Rocket Man Jet in the long left position.

Today was a bit of a milestone on the Grander boat. Our second crew, Jessica, caught her tenth blue marlin of the season. We decided to fish to the west where most of action has been lately. After a couple hours of trolling and marking bait up and down the ledge I finally ran over a hungry fish that exploded on the Large Polu Kai Tube in the short left position. While clearing the other lines and Jess getting to the chair the fish popped up 50 yds away from the boat with a few lunges. No need to turn and chase at this point so the backing up began and the fight was on. We were on the fish in less than 3 minutes when we got the first grab on the leader. After another 2 minutes we had the fish alongside. Jess hopped out of the chair to throw the snooter on its bill, out came the hooks and off swam her tenth of the season. Not a big fish, maybe 300 lbs, but a fish none the less.

Left the Calheta harbor and made a right turn. With the sun in our eyes, I could barely make out the dorsal of another hungry white marlin coming in on our Polu Kai Rocket Man. The fish made a few passes and Jonboy managed to get her hooked. We got all the lines clear and I had Jessica put her gloves on to take another go on the leader. The white put on a great show as we chased it all over the ocean. I snapped a ton of pictures of the photogenic fish as it jumped from one side of the transom to the other.
Jess grabbed the leader and the white immediately started jumping. She did a great job taking good wraps as I'd shown her. She got the 70lb white marlin settled down along the side.
We pulled the fish aboard for a few release pictures before sending it on it's way. A great way to start the day but unfortunately we wouldn't see another fish all day, guess there's always tomorrow.

Today, August 4th, involved us just going to fish an afternoon with Keith and Josie before they headed back to the states on the 5th. Sambo Peters, Release Marine, and his buddy Clayton Smith headed out this morning after having a great couple days of fishing. We had the highest of hopes after the day we had yesterday so i headed back to the same locale to find the bait and maybe the fish.
Things didn't look quite as good as the day before and the fishing told the tale. I heard of only 2 fish seen today and a couple tuna sightings but none of them involved us. We only fished 5 hrs and on our final approach to the harbor, there was a quick zip on my bridge rod with the Polu Kai Bullet on it. I cranked it up a couple turns and in flagged what could have been a white marlin or a large spearfish. After letting it hook itself, which seems to work best for me, it went off jumping and Tracy snapped some quick pics. We cleared all lines and focused on catching this fish for Josie.

There wasn't a single fish seen yesterday for the entire fleet, so our expectations for today weren't exactly through the roof. We headed out of the harbor around 10:30 this morning with the Chunda right behind us. We tacked straight off shore while they took a more westerly direction. Within 5 minutes of leaving the marina the Chunda was in hard reverse. They ended up releasing a 400 pound blue right next to us. We stayed in the area for a bit with no luck so we wandered our way up to the west end. On our first pass up the ledge a fish piles on the Marlin Magic Large Tube I had just put out. She takes out maybe 20 yards of line, windshield wipering her way out of the pattern. Everyone on the boat is cringing their teeth hoping we can stay connected but unfortunately she was able to get herself free.
Frustrated but happy to see a fish, we continued up the ledge. We starting marking big piles of mackerel all up and down the ledge but mostly in tight around 80 fathoms.

After catching a fish at the end of the day yesterday, I felt pretty good about going back to the same area hoping for another bite or two. The day dragged on with no action for us but I had heard of one fish caught and I had witnessed another one caught so hopes began to rise.
We hadn't started the day until 11 am so our plan was to stay a little later, maybe till 7 pm. The bait was on the 100 fathom edge and I continued practicing my M's and W's on the plotter when my mate, Tracy, perked up like a pointer and spotted a big spot about to eat the XL Polu Kai Tube on the left short. She didn't eat as you would want but she was persistent none the less. After popping the lure out of the tag line and chasing it back to the boat, she ate and came unglued really quick. We thought that might be the last we'd see of her but she swam back into the spread after the right long where the Polu Kai Lil' Stubby held up residence. On her second attempt she was hooked and off and jumping.

Melton International Tackle has been fishing the beautiful waters of Madeira, Portugal for more than 20 years. In that time, we have made many connections with charter boats in this area. Contact Melton Tackle if you are interested in a trip of a lifetime.

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